Copyright

Understanding copyright is fundamental for educators and researchers who create and engage with a range of material on a daily basis. While copyright can be complicated, there are some simple facts that are critical to the work of a University that should be understood by all staff and students.

The information below gives a basic introduction to copyright, what it protects and how the protection works.

What is copyright?

Copyright is a legal way of protecting creative works. In Australia, copyright law is contained in the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth).

Copyright law grants exclusive rights to the author of creative material such as text, artistic works, music, computer programs, sound recordings and films so that only they can determine how their material is copied and used by others. This means that copyright owners can legally prevent others from copying and using their material (such as performing or communicating their work) without their permission.

In Australia, copyright protection is automatic. This means that a work is protected as soon as it is created in material form (i.e. writing it down or recording the work in some way).

Copyright does not protect ideas, concepts, styles or techniques. For example, copyright will not protect an idea for a film or book, but it will protect a script for the film or even a storyboard for the film.

What material is protected?

The Copyright Act divides the materials protected by copyright law into two categories: 'works' and 'other subject matter'.

Other Subject Matter

Published Editions - typesetting (the format and look of a publication)

Who owns copyright?

Works

The owner of the copyright in works will generally be the author of the material such as the writer, artist or composer of the work.

Other Subject Matter

The owner of copyright in sound recordings, films and broadcasts will usually be the maker of the material such as the producer of a film, the broadcaster of a broadcast and the record company that compiled that recording.

There are a number of exceptions to this general rule of copyright ownership. For example, copyright ownership may be varied by contract where the copyright owner agrees to assign their copyright to another party. Also, an employer will usually own copyright in works produced by the employee in the course of their employment.

Copyright owner rights

Copyright law gives the copyright owner a number of exclusive rights to use the material. This includes the right to:

Copy/reproduce the material (photocopy, scan, upload/download or copy to a USB);

Publish the material (supply copies to the public);

Perform the material in public (perform a play or play a film/sound recording to the public); and

Communicate the material (email or make it available online such as on the Internet/intranet)

If you wish to do any of these things with material protected by copyright, you must obtain the permission of the copyright owner unless an exception applies.

Copyright & the public domain

Once the period of copyright protection expires, the work is in the 'public domain'. This means that anyone can copy the work without having first to obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Some people mistakenly believe that once a work is published or available for free from the Internet, it is in the 'public domain'. This is not true. Publicly available Internet material, such as an online newspaper articles or images on Google or Flickr, are all protected by copyright.

Public domain works are works where the period of copyright protection has expired.

Copyright & Macquarie University course material

You are not allowed to share any MQ course materials outside of iLearn. All material provided to you by the University is protected by copyright and can only be used for your personal educational and/or research purposes.

MQ course material is the intellectual property of the University. This includes recorded lectures, University course notes, unit outlines, lecturers’ presentation slides, assignment guidance material and tutorial handouts. Course materials must not be uploaded to any websites or shared with any people outside the University without the permission of the University. Doing so is likely to result in copyright infringement and disciplinary consequences.